Self Awareness
Self awareness is about learning to better understand why you feel what
you feel and why you behave in a particular way. Once you begin to
understand this concept you then have the opportunity and freedom to
change things about yourself enabling you to create a life that you want.
It’s almost impossible to change and become self-accepting if you are
unsure as to who you are. Having clarity about who you are and what
you want can be empowering, giving you the confidence to make
changes.
Self-awareness is being conscious of what you're good at while
acknowledging what you still have yet to learn. This includes admitting
when you don't have the answer and owning up to mistakes.
In our highly competitive culture, this can seem counter-intuitive. In
fact, many of us operate on the belief that we must appear as though we
know everything all the time or else people will question our abilities,
and then perhaps judge us. If you're honest with yourself, you'll admit
that really the opposite is true. Because whether you acknowledge your
weaknesses or not, everyone still sees them. So rather than conceal
them, the person who tries to hide weaknesses actually highlights them,
creating the perception of a lack of integrity and self-awareness.
The Johari Window
Johari Window is a technique for improving self-awareness within an
individual. It helps in understanding your relationship with yourself and
others.It was developed by American psychologists Joseph Luft and
Harry Ingham in 1955, hence the name Johari. Johari Window is
generally used in Self-help groups in exercises which help a person to
learn and discover things about themselves, like heuristic exercise.
Johari Window is a method used for self-discovery as well.
What is Johari Window?
The Johari Window model is a disclosure / feedback model of self
awareness, an information processing tool. The Johari Window actually
represents information – feelings, experience, views, knowledge,
attitudes, skills, intentions, motivation, etc. within or about a person – in
relation to their group, from four perspectives, which are described
below. It is based upon two things – to acquire the trust of others by
revealing your information to them and by learning about yourself
through feedback by others.
The Johari Window model can also be used to represent the same
information for a group in relation to other groups. Johari Window
terminology refers to self and others: self means oneself, i.e., the person
subject to the Johari Window analysis. Others means other people in the
person’s group or team.
The Johari Window is divided into 4 panes that are:
1. Open or Free Area – what is known by the person about him / herself
and is also known by others.
2. Blind Area – what is unknown by the person about him / herself but
which others know.
3. Hidden Area – what the person knows about him / herself that others
do not know. It is also called the façade.
4. Unknown Area – what is unknown by the person about him / herself
and is also unknown by others.
Johari Window Quadrant 1: Open Area or Arena
This area or pane is called open area because the information in this
pane about the behavior, feelings, emotions about the person is known to
that person itself as well as the other members in this group.
In this arena, all the communication occurs through a two-way process.
Such that the person socializes about himself with others and constantly
receives feedback from the other members of the group. As a result, the
group becomes more effective and the relationship in this group is very
dynamic.
In this group, the process of feedback solicitation is very common. This
process occurs in the group that has an understanding and the feedbacks
of the other person are heard.
So, the open area through this group can be increased horizontally such
that the blindspot area is reduced and vertically it is increased so that the
hidden and unknown areas of a person are reduced when that person
reveals about his feeling to the other person.
Johari Window Quadrant 2: Blindspot or BlindSelf
Blindspot is the area in which the certain information on your
personality is known to others but that information is not known to you.
In simple terms, other people may interpret your personality different
than you might have expected. For efficient communication, this area
must be reduced.
One way to do it is through feedback that you get from other members in
the group.
Johari Window Quadrant 3: Hidden Area or Hidden Self
Hidden area is the information that you hide from others. Here, the
information is known to you but the others are unknown to this
information.
The reason for this may be the information might be personal to you so
that you are reluctant to share it with others. This includes secrets, past
experiences, feelings, etc. Many people keep their information private
and do not share it with others.
Johari Window Quadrant 4: Unknown Areas or Unknown Self
In this area, the information is unknown to you as well as the others.
Generally, certain feelings, talents, information, etc fall in this area.
The reason for this might be some traumatic experience in the past about
a particular event or experiences which might be unknown for your ever.
The person, as well as the group, is unaware about this till he or she
discovers it. One way to reduce this area is through open
communication.
JOHARI WINDOW – PRINCIPLES OF CHANGE
1. A change in any one quadrant will affect all other quadrants.
2. It takes energy to hide, deny, or be blind to behavior which is
involved in interaction
3. Threat tends to decrease awareness; mutual trust tends to increase
awareness.
4. Forced awareness (exposure) is undesirable and usually ineffective.
5. Interpersonal learning means a change taken place so that Quadrant 1
is larger and one or more of the other quadrants has grown smaller.
6. Working with others is facilitated by a large enough area of free
activity. It means more of the resources and skills in the membership can
be applied to the task at hand.
7. The smaller the first quadrant, the poorer the communication.
8. There is universal curiosity about unknown areas, but this is held in
check by custom, social training, and diverse fears.
9. Sensitivity means appreciating the covert aspects of behavior in
Quadrants 2, 3, and 4 and respecting the desire of others to keep them
so.
10. Learning about group processes as they are being experienced helps
to increase awareness – larger Quadrant 1 – for the group as whole, as
well as for individuals.
11. The value system of a group and its membership may be noted in the
way unknowns in the life of the group are confronted.
Methodology
Demographic information:
Name: Nooria Muhammadi
Age: 24
Gender: Female
Education: M.Sc. Psychology
Materials required:
• Writing material (pencil and eraser)
• Johari-window questionnaire
Description of tool/ Apparatus used:
The Johari Window questionnaire has a total of 20 questioned
statements with two answers as A and B. The total point value added
together is 5 (the client has two assign a point value to A and B as per
her judgements.
Instructions for administration:
1. The client is asked to make some notes about herself. What are her
strengths and weakness? What is she comfortable with and willing
to share with others?
2. The client is also asked to ask feedback about herself from others
( can be family member or friends).
Procedures followed:
1. Client is made to set comfortably in a chair with a table.
3. Instructions are explained in detailed manner about the Johari
Window Questionnaire.
4. Any doubts are clarified before the client starts to fill up the
questionnaire
5. Once it is completed it is scored as per the norms and the results
are explained to the client.
Scoring and Norms:
1. The scores from the questionnaire were calculated and totaled
using the norms
6. The corresponding values computed on the top access and left
access of the analysis window.
Results and discussion (including tables and graphs):
Table showing the total scores of the client in the Johari-Window questionnaire:
SOLICITS FEEDBACK GIVES FEEDBACK
2B-4 1A-1
3A-5 48-5
5A-3 6B-0
7A-1 9B-2
8B-0 11B-4
10B-5 13A-2
12B-5 15A-1
14B-2 17B-4
16A-5 18B-0
20A-0 19B-0
TOTAL-30 TOTAL-19
The Johari-Window:
Scores achieved in the questionnaire plotted onto the graph depicted as follows:
Discussion:
The results of the Johari-Window questionnaire of the client show that
the client has a fairly large hidden are as compared to the other areas of
the window. This depicts that the client has lots of characteristics and
traits that she does not want to disclose to others. This can be because
she does not feel comfortable being completely honest about her
true/inner self and might not show who she really is due to mistrust
and/or past experiences of betrayal, or maybe, due to fear of being
judged by others.
Among the 4 areas the blind area of the client is the smallest which
clearly means that she is connected to her inner self and knows who she
really is, which is why others see her in the same way that she sees
herself.
List of adjectives chosen under each area of the Window:
OPEN SELF- BLIND SELF-
1.PATIENT 1.OBSERVANT
2.MODEST 2.SELF-ASERTIVE
3.FRIENDLY 3.RELAXED
4.KIND 4.SYMPATHETIC
5.WARM
6.SHY
7.CALM
HIDDEN SELF- UNKNOWN SELF
1.LOGICAL REST OF THE ADJECTIVES
2.INTROVERTED
The client was also made to perform an activity where she had to choose
adjectives that best described her and then was made to ask others to
select adjectives for her as well, on the basis of their perceptions about
the nature of the client.
Adjectives that were selected by both the client and her
classmates/friends are patient, modest, kind and friendly and would take
up the open area in the Johari-Window, representing the behaviors and
attitudes of the client which she is aware of and is also known to others.
The adjectives that were picked by others to describe the client but were
missed by the client herself are observant, self-assertive, relaxed,
sympathetic, warm, shy and come under the blind area of the Window,
representing those behaviors and attitudes that the client is not aware of
but others see and observe in her as well as such behaviors that she
might think she possesses but others might not observe in her.
The adjectives chosen by the client but not by her friends/classmates are
introverted and logical which are included in the hidden area of the
Window representing that the client has successfully kept these traits to
herself, which is why others are not able to observe such behaviors of
hers freely.
Lastly, the unknown are of the Window comprises of all those traits that
were neither selected by the subject nor by her friends/classmates.such
traits are yet to be discovered by the client. One such trait can be the
clients sensuality that she has discovered recently to be one of her
strongest traits and is related to and involves gratification of senses, be it
smelling something fresh or looking at a beautiful painting.
Reflection:
Johari-Window according to me was a very affective way of finding out
and understanding who I am and what my potential as a person is. It also
helped me to know how others see me, what they think about me and
how they perceive me as a person.
This practical comprised of two activities, the first activity involved me
solving the Johari Window Questionnaire and then scoring myself
according to the options I chose, and finally plotting the Johari Window
graph, which helped me to see which area of the window is the broadest
(Open, Blind, Hidden, Unknown). And according to the scores I got, the
hidden are of the window was the broadest for me and the blind area of
the window was the smallest of all.
The second activity that I had to perform involved selecting a number of
5 to 6 adjectives that best described me. It was a fairly easy to perform
and I did not take much time to ponder or reflect upon each adjective. I
just went along with my instincts and quickly came up with 5 traits, all
positive and very true of me. But when it came to picking out adjectives
for my classmates, I felt the activity was more difficult with those people
whom I wasn’t acquainted to or knew, as compared to those whom I
knew previously. And some of my classmates who were supposed to
choose adjectives for me had the same problem as I which left them in a
tough situation similar to mine. This point can be considered as a
drawback of this tool as it can give anyone who might not know a
person properly the right to misjudge him/her, and in worst case
scenarios, this tool can give other people the opportunity to manipulate
personal information in a negative way and describe it.
I was very surprised when some of my classmates chose adjectives that I
would never choose for myself, although the adjectives were not of
negative nature but things that I personally think/feel i am not and the
fact that they think and feel that I possess those traits is flattering but at
the same time confusing for me. overall, most of the adjectives chosen
by both I and my friends were similar to a great extent which means that
I am fairly honest and genuine when it comes to reflecting my true
nature and that nature is easily observable by others. Of course, there are
certain things I keep hidden but that’s just because I believe it's unwise
to be like an open book every time. Certain things about yourself should
always be kept private until or unless maximum levels of trust is built
between you and another. A mysterious personality might be frustrating
to crack but at the same time intriguing and attractive. Besides, it's better
to not communicate certain things about yourself to others no matter
how close and personal you get to a person.
The blind area for me occupied the least area in the Window which
might depict that I am aware of who I really am most of the times and
that others see me the exact same way as I see myself. But if I would
insist on making the area even smaller than it is, then talking to my
friends/classmates and taking their feedbacks and trying to work on
myself on the basis of those feedbacks would suffice.
Finally, the Johari-Window is a great tool for you to know yourself and
other members of your group which leads to a sense of mutual
understanding and cooperation between everyone. This directly ensures
that all the members of the group are truly motivated and are enabled to
tap onto their full potentials to achieve the goals of the team.
